Waxing Wax: A Wax Interview

Photos by Danni Monterroso

Wax is a rapper, stand-up comic, producer, and an “all around creative dude”. Real name Michael Jones, Wax has had a career that has spanned more than a decade. Becoming a real YouTube pioneer, he started uploading videos in 2006, where his career really started to take off.

We, at KWCR, heard about Wax through our Student Advisor. He’s a huge fan, and helped write the questions we got to ask Wax himself. We were able to get tickets through friends of KWCR, S&S Presents, to go see Wax and even talk to him before the show, an interview that’s available on our YouTube.

He performed at Urban Lounge, a venue in downtown Salt Lake City. I was able to go, along with one of our DJs Jaymin, and our PR Director, Danni Monterroso. I must admit, I was very nervous going into the interview. I felt really underprepared and very underqualified (even though I had interviewed many a band prior, not to brag). Something about this event and the one-on-one interview really scared me. I had done my research and prepped the questions, but it still didn’t feel like enough.

The three of us showed up to Urban Lounge, being told that our press passes would be at Will Call under our names. We came in through the door and we were met with confusion. We told them we were with KWCR, here to interview Wax and nobody seemed to know what we were talking about. They went back to see if Wax knew what we were talking about and thank goodness he did. We followed him back into the greenroom, and started setting up our equipment. Jaymin had to go park the car, so I could only hope and pray that the employees at the door would show him where we were. Danni and I already had some issues figuring out our equipment, so we had to start messing around with it on the fly. By the time I sat down to interview Wax, my nerves were all in a twist. Throughout us trying to figure everything out, he was super chill and understanding. When we sat down, he could tell how frazzled I was (it was rather hard to try and hide it). He suggested we start with breathing exercises, and I agreed. After my introduction for the video, we took two deep breaths together, and truly and completely, it made the experience (and my anxiety) a lot more manageable.

After our breathing exercises, the vibes were flowing and so was the conversation. I truly cannot convey how cool of a guy Wax is. He was easy to talk to, and he took my questions in stride, even making unknowing segues from one question to another, making my job as an interviewer incredibly easy.

During the interview, it was clear to tell how much he cared for his fans and how much he does for his fans. We talked about how he’s 6 and a half years sober, and if he struggles with performing songs that talk and almost idolize his substance use. He answered that he doesn’t mind performing them, that he does it for his fans and his personal experiences don’t matter as much because he’s performing for the people who love it.

While he was performing his set, he connected with the audience. He was talking to them in between songs, asking them their names. At one point, a fan admitted his name was Alec because his mom had a crush on Alec Baldwin. During the show, Wax would make callbacks (all in good fun) to this story and this audience member. He wore one of the audience member’s hats during a song, took someone else’s phone and recorded a video of himself on stage rapping. That was just the tip of the iceberg and how he connected with the audience. His energy during the set was infectious, even people on the side of the venue, sitting at tables, were getting up and dancing, singing along, and bobbing their heads. He had great energy with his guest DJ, DJ Hoppa, joking and talking with him. Throughout my entire experience with Wax, it was apparent just how much care he puts into every aspect of his performance.

Overall, I loved getting to talk to Wax and getting to see his show. I would have never known about him if not for KWCR. I truly love how many doors into new musicians KWCR opens for me and especially, how cool it was to work with Wax!